The State of the States: America's Well-Being Wins & Woes

by Jennifer Rudloff, on August 24, 2011

Holding strong to their number one position, the people of the Aloha State seemingly hold the secret to high well-being. Between the sunshine and the beaches there are people thriving in emotional health and healthy behaviors. So who else is doing it right? Alaskans see the sunny side of life and score highest in life evaluation, a measure of their current life situation and their optimism for the future. Vermont leads with healthy behaviors. Massachusetts continues to come in at the top with basic access, and residents of North Dakota are whistling while they work, coming in with the highest work environment scores.

On the other end of the well-being spectrum, we find West Virginia and Kentucky maintaining their positions as the states with the lowest well-being. The people of West Virginia continue to struggle with the lowest life evaluation and physical health. Consistent with the last 3 years, the people of the Bluegrass State perform worst in emotional health; and Mississippi residents perform lowest in the area of basic access. What is the state with the lowest work environment index score? Louisiana beat out Delaware for this title for the first time since 2009. And Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plains, unhealthy behaviors are also sweeping through the countryside.

As you can probably see from the color clusters in the map above, there are some patterns of well-being by geographical region. Chances are if you’re in the south, not so well. Eight of the eleven states with the lowest well-being are in the South. Four of the top seven states are located in the West, and five Midwestern states and three Eastern states rank in the top twelve.

STATE

Well-Being
Index Score

Comparison

Hawaii

71.1

Above Average

North Dakota

70.5

Above Average

Alaska

69.4

Above Average

Nebraska

68.4

Above Average

Minnesota

68.3

Above Average

Colorado

68.3

Above Average

Utah

68.1

Above Average

Iowa

67.9

Above Average

New Hampshire

67.9

Above Average

Kansas

67.8

Above Average

Maryland

67.8

Above Average

Vermont

67.8

Above Average

Massachussetts

67.7

Above Average

South Dakota

67.6

Above Average

Virginia

67.6

Above Average

California

67.5

Above Average

Washington

67.2

Above Average

Oregon

67.2

Above Average

Montana

67.1

Average

Conneticut

66.9

Average

Arizona

66.9

Average

New Mexico

66.8

Average

Idaho

66.7

Average

Wisconsin

66.6

Average

Maine

66.6

Average

Texas

66.6

Average

New Jersey

66.5

Average

Wyoming

66.5

Average

North Carolina

66.5

Average

Rhode Island

66.2

Average

Illinois

66.2

Average

Georgia

66.2

Average

Deleware

66

Average

Nevada

65.9

Average

Pennsylvania

65.8

Below Average

Michigan

65.8

Below Average

South Carolina

65.7

Below Average

Florida

65.4

Below Average

New York

65.2

Below Average

Missouri

65.1

Below Average

Alabama

65.1

Below Average

Indiana

64.9

Below Average

Arkansas

64.9

Below Average

Oklahoma

64.8

Below Average

Tennessee

64.7

Below Average

Louisiana

64.6

Below Average

Ohio

64.4

Below Average

Mississippi

63.6

Below Average

Kentucky

63

Below Average

West Virginia

62.4

Below Average

About the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index tracks U.S. well-being and provides best-in-class solutions for a healthier world. To learn more, please visitwww.well-beingindex.com.